Lebanon County’s first sneaker convention was held Sunday, but customers weren’t there looking to beat outlet prices.

“You’ll see prices ranging from about $150, and then they go up from there to easily to $2,000 or more for a brand new shoe,” event organizer Christian Santana said.

The sneakers at Santana’s show are of the classic and rare variety.

“The main thing about the sneaker world is the rarity. It’s about the limited edition shoes. You don’t want everybody to have the same shoes you have on,” Santana said. “When you go to a meeting or a gathering, and you finally bring out a pair of shoes, it is good to be the only one with that pair of shoes.”

Santana, a Lebanon resident, is a collector who began buying, selling and trading shoes online with a Facebook group he started more than four years ago called Sneakerheads of Pennsylvania.

“After I started the Facebook group, it got more localized to central Pennsylvania, and it took off,” he said. “I started setting up shows and things to make it more public.”

He’s done seven shows over the past four years in Harrisburg, Reading, York, Lancaster and now Lebanon.

Some sneaker collectors keep their prized shoes new in box, but some do wear their sneakers even though it does depreciate the value of the shoe, Santana said.

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Christian Santana, organized the event, as Sneakerheads of Pennsylvania held their first sneaker convention at the Lebanon Valley Expo Center on Sunday, Feb. 19, 2017.(Photo: Jeremy Long, Lebanon Daily News)

“I have a friend who paid $5,000 or $6,000 for a pair of sneakers, and they are still in the box they shipped in,” Zach Benishti, owner of Scranton shoe consignment shop Sole Providerz, said. “He ordered a pair from Nike, and he put the whole box – he didn’t even make sure it was the right shoe – into his closet.”

Every collector is different in their approach when it comes to whether or not they’ll wear their sneakers or keep them safely stored away, according to Benishti.

“I’ll open the box, smell them, try them on to make sure they fit right and then I’ll put them back in the box,” Benishti said. “I may not take them out ever again, or I might pull them out and wear them on occasion.”

Benishti had a used Kanye West Yeezy sneaker going for $2,600 at his stand. The shoe originally sold for $400 or $500 brand new, but because of its rarity, it now commands a much higher price, he said.

“These shoes go from anywhere from $100 to around $3,000. Most of the time it’s the Kanye West sneakers that sell for the most money,” Benishti said.

While Kanye West sneakers by Nike and Adidas are typically the most rare and expensive, many collectors go after classic shoes that either mean something to them personally or better match with their own personal style.

“Everybody has a different shoe that is their holy grail,” Benishti said. “I’m wearing one of mine right now – a classic pair of Air Jordans.

Celebrities have a major impact when it comes to sneaker collecting, according to Santana.

“We have the Jordans – the classics – that have a wider appeal to a larger age group, and we have Kanye with Adidas, and those are even more limited,” he said. “That’s where the age groups come into play, because you have the Kanye’s, which are the newer shoes, versus the older classics.”

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An Air Yeezy 2 NRG that was for sale for $2,600 as Sneakerheads of Pennsylvania held their first sneaker convention at the Lebanon Valley Expo Center on Sunday, Feb. 19, 2017.(Photo: Jeremy Long, Lebanon Daily News)

Santana has pared down his collection to around 30 pairs of shoes, he said, because he has gotten a bit pickier about what he collects compared to when he first started out. Other collectors mentioned owning 60, 70 or even hundreds of pairs of sneakers in their personal collections.

“I’ve been collecting for nine years – since I was in the 10th grade,” said Jeffrey Romero, a collector from Allentown who set up a stand to sell some his shoes. “We used to talk about sneakers in class at school, and it all started with Nike Dunks.”

Romero would save up to buy sneakers when he was a child, and he always asked for sneakers for Christmas, he said. He has about 70 pairs of sneakers now, but said he used to own more.

Josh Smith, of Perkiomenville, Montgomery County, has been collecting sneakers for about five years, and he also has quite a few shoes in his collection.

Cole Rebert, of Dallastown and his grandfather, Greg Rebert look around as Sneakerheads of Pennsylvania held their first sneaker convention at the Lebanon Valley Expo Center on Sunday, Feb. 19, 2017.
Jeremy Long, Lebanon Daily News

A Air Yeezy 2 NRG that was for sale for $2,600 as Sneakerheads of Pennsylvania held their first sneaker convention at the Lebanon Valley Expo Center on Sunday, Feb. 19, 2017.
Jeremy Long, Lebanon Daily News

Josh Smith, of Perkiomenville, Pa. sets up his table as Sneakerheads of Pennsylvania held their first sneaker convention at the Lebanon Valley Expo Center on Sunday, Feb. 19, 2017.
Jeremy Long, Lebanon Daily News